Earlier we had informed you that Tata Motors-owned JaguarLand Rover had finally decided to end the production of its iconic off-roader – Land Rover Defender. Now, the British carmaker has finally pulled the plugs for its popular off-road SUV, which rolled out the last Land Rover Defender on January 25. The final unit was manufactured at JLR’s Solihull plant in the UK after being in production for 32 years.
The Land Rover Defender was first launched in 1983 as a direct descendant of the original 1948 Land Rover Series I. The SUV only comes in a 4-wheel drive option and up until now was powered by a 2.2-litre, 4-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine which is mated to a 6-speed manual transmission. In its over three decades of existence, the Land Rover Defender officially received 3 important updates – in 1990, 2007 and 2012, none of which made in significant changes to the SUV. This practically made the Defender one of the most unaltered vehicles to sustain for these many years.
But, as they say – one day everything comes to its end, the Land Rover Defender too succumbed to the new emission and safety norms like most of its peers. That being said one cannot forget that fact the Defender’s off-road capabilities, its abuse-friendly construction and its ability scale almost every terrain possible played a major role is offering the carmaker its stature. And that is exactly why JLR planning to take forward the legacy of the Land Rover Defender.
According to reports, JLR is currently working on the next generation Defender, which will match the safety and emission standards that is expected from SUVs in its segment. The next-gen Land Rover Defender is expected to be introduced in 2018 with 5 body styles on offer. In fact to celebrate the iconic Defender, a fleet of six Land Rovers, each towing an agricultural 12-foot harrow to draw an unique 1km sand drawing of the Defender in the sand at Red Wharf Bay in Anglesey, UK.
[“source-ndtv”]